zhang tui, zhang la
by potato-sensei
Summary: The beginning and the end of Tui and La. And the beginning of Yue and La.
1. zhang tui, zhang la

**zhang tui, zhang la**

"Tui!" called a voice. "Tui! Come quickly!" It was a small girl, dressed all in white. Her hair was shining silver, and she had dark black eyes, that shined like dark mirrors.

"Tui, can't you hear it?" she called.

Then came the reply to her question, "Hear what, La?" It was a tall boy, decked out in black. His raven black hair was pulled back in a long ponytail, and it flowed carelessly in the breeze. His eyes were a placid grey-silver, full of meaning and wisdom. Yet, his shadowy figure was not one of fear, but of peace.

He knelt on one knee and held the small girl's hand. "What's the matter, La?"

"It's a cry. Someone's crying, Tui. No one is supposed to cry here," explained La.

"A cry..." wondered Tui.

"We must find the cry," La ordered as she tugged on Tui's hand. The pair searched for a long time, until they came to the gate near their exit into the human realm. By the little pond where their mortal bodies danced, sat a small soul. It was the soul of a small girl; much smaller than La. La could see tears running down the soul's cheeks.

She stopped walking at once, in front of Tui, "This is the cry, Tui."

"A lost soul," Tui stated. "A very young lost soul."

La proceded to walk towards the lost soul.

"What are you doing, La?" asked Tui.

"I must stop the cry, Tui. No one is supposed to cry here, " she explained. La knelt down and grabbed the soul's hand. "Why are you crying, soul? Are you lost?" she asked.

"I cannot find my mother," whimpered the soul, "I was with her, but now I'm not."

"Mother is not here," said La. "Mother is on the other side of the gate." La pointed to the pond, and in it's reflection the soul saw a woman with dark brown hair. She was holding a lifeless baby, and crying. She saw other people as well, and they too were crying.

"They are crying because you are lost, little soul," explained Tui. The dark clothed boy stepped closer towards La and the soul.

"So much crying," said La, "No one should cry here. How can I make them not cry, Tui?" The soul looked at Tui, and trembled a little.

"It's alright, little soul. We're going to give you a gift that will make everyone happy again," he assured.

"We are!" smiled La, as she clapped her hands together.

"Sure," replied Tui, "No one should cry here."

"Alright," said the soul. Tui stretched out his hand and wiped away the soul's tears.

"La, hold the soul's hands again," Tui ordered. La held the soul's hands to her own tightly, and then in a flash of light the soul was gone.

Tui and La looked into the pool where their mortal bodies danced once again, and saw a baby with moon white hair, just like La's. And all the people who were crying tears of sadness were now crying tears of joy.

"Tui, they're still crying. You said we'd make them all happy," said La in her confusion.

"But they are happy, La," explained Tui, "Sometimes it's alright to cry."

* * *

a/n: this is the revised version with information according to AvatarSpirit . net that says that the Moon Spirit is La and the Ocean Spirit is Tui. 


	2. ju la, chu yue

**ju la, chu yue**

**(the end of la, the beginning of yue)**

Very near the beginning, when the world was young, the ocean spirit, Tui, felt compassion on the humans in the mortal world, and so he, being filled with kindness, gave up his claim to the spirit realm, and passed into the mortal realm. His body then tied with a simple black koi fish.

Not long after, his friend and companion, the moon spirit, La, decided to join him. And so she also, having pity on the humans, gave up her spirit body for a tangable body. Her body then tied with a simple white koi fish.

Ever since, the two have danced circles around each other, in the little pond that was their gate to the spirit world.

One day in the mortal world, very near the pond where Tui and La danced, there were many people crying. A child had been born-- a princess-- but she was born as if she were asleep, and the people were afraid that she'd never awake.

So the mother and the father of the little baby came to the pond where Tui and La danced, and pleaded with the spirits to save their child. They placed the baby in the warm waters of the pond, and her hair turned silver white, and she opened her eyes and began to cry. It was then that they knew their daughter would live. But they also knew that she was very special, too. She had been touched by the moon spirit, La. And so the little girl was named Yue, for the moon.

Many years later, when the girl was 16 years old, a war was waging. Many people were fighting, and dying. But amidst all this death and sorrow, it was simply not enough evil for one man. The man was an Admiral in the Fire Navy, and he being filled with much hatred, held the moon spirit captive.

At the same time in the spirit world, La's spirit body suddenly became weak and she fell to the ground and trembled in fear.

"Tui... I'm frightened," she cried. The small spirit had tears running down her face.

"La! What's the matter!?" Tui knew that something was dreadfully wrong. He picked up La's spirit body, and ran as fast as he could to the pond where their mortal bodies danced. In it's reflection, he saw the fire admiral, holding La's mortal body.

"Oh no," he whispered "He wouldn't!" Then Tui saw another man, a face he remembered. The one called Dragon was trying desperately to protect La. He vowed to avenge the moon should the fire admiral do anything to harm her.

...And so the admiral placed La's mortal body back in the water. Tui looked over at La who he had placed gently on the ground to rest. La arose, with Tui's help, and was able to stand again, and her trembling had stopped. It was over.

But then, without warning, and with a loud shout, the fire admiral shot a fiery blow at La's mortal body. In the spirit world, La's spirit body froze stiff, and she fell to the ground hard, with a very sad blank expression on her face.

"La!" shouted Tui in shock, as tears poured from his eyes. The older spirit knelt to cradle his dying companion. "No, La! Don't die!"

"What can we do...?" whispered La, in all her pain. Her face was wet with sweat and tears. Both spirits knew this was the end.

"There isn't much time... we have to call her," he whispered as he held La close to him.

The one called Dragon had frightened away the fire admiral, and now he looked into the pond dejectedly. He saw Tui's mortal body swimming around frantically, desperately trying to find it's balancer. The white koi fish was not moving.

"There's no hope now. It's over," said the girl with the silver white hair.

"No. It's not over," said the Avatar and Tui together. The Avatar stepped into the pond where Tui and La once danced together, and in a flash of light, Tui allowed the Avatar to borrow his powers.

"You will pay for your treachery against La!" said Tui, his voice full of sorrow. With the help of the Avatar, Tui unleashed a terrible display of his might. Never again would anyone perform such an act against the spirit world, and Tui would be the reason. The anger of the ocean would teach these mortals to fear.

Back at the pond where La's lifeless mortal body lay, Dragon, Yue, the water healer and her brother, all looked on in sadness.

"It's too late. It's dead," said the healer.

The one called Dragon noticed Yue's silver white hair. "You have been touched by the moon spirit. Some of it's life is in you," he explained.

"Yes," she replied, "you're right. It gave me life. Maybe I can give it back." Yue stepped forward and approached the lifeless creature.

Suddenly, the boy grabbed her hand to pull her back. "No! You don't have to do that," he tried to reason.

"It's my duty, Sokka," said Yue.

"I won't let you. Your father told me to protect you," said the boy, choking back the urge to cry.

"I have to do this," she said again. She placed her hands on the motionless fish, and in seconds the life that La had once given to saved Yue, was given back to save La. Her life now gone, Yue collapsed. And then, her body vanished, as if it had never existed; the pond glowed shining white, as if the moon was reflecting in it once more, and La's mortal body began to move again. And there, above the water, was Yue's spirit; she would be the moon spirit now.

"Good bye, Sokka. I will always be with you," she whispered, and vanished again.

In the midst of the ocean, Tui was still fighting furiously. Out of nowhere, he noticed the moon in the sky alight once more. And so, exhausted from his sorrowful battle, he made his way back to the gate. As he approached, he spotted the fire admiral who had slayed his dearest La. He would pay for his wicked act, he reached for the man, and pulled him into the sea. That would be his end. He had stolen the moon's life, so the ocean would steal his. Tui noticed a young man with a scar on his face; it was the Dragon's kin.

"Grab my hand!" he said to the fire admiral, but the admiral was filled with too much pride to accept help from the Dragon's kin. And so the ocean took the fire admiral's life, and he was never seen again.

After all this, Tui made it back to the gate, and returned to the spirit world. He stepped out of the pond where he and La would dance, and looked around, there in shining white was the woman from the mortal world, Yue.

"La is gone," he said sadly.

"I'm sorry," she replied.

"Will you dance with me?" Tui asked with tears in his eyes.

"For all eternity," replied Yue. "But first you should rest; you've had a bad time."

"No...," said Tui, "I will dry my tears for La. No one should cry here." He grabbed Yue's hand, and they began to dance.

* * *

a/n: this is the revised version, with information, according to AvatarSpirit . net that says that La is the moon spirit and Tui is the ocean spirit. 


End file.
